With a speaking voice that's instantly recognizable, it only makes sense that Scarlett Johansson
would take a stab at singing, but the Avengers star has had a tough time transitioning from
the big screen to the soundproof booth.
Here's why Scarlett Johansson's music career flopped.
Debut album
Johansson released her debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, in 2008, which includes the
lead single "Falling Down."
The project features ten covers of songs by Tom Waits and one original track called "Song
for Jo," which Johansson co-wrote.
David Bowie is also featured on two tracks.
The album received mixed reviews.
The Observer said,
"[It's] a bravely eccentric selection and a captivating homage to a singular writer."
Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly said:
"In burying Johansson's vocals so deeply in the druggy ambiance, [the producer] means
well but ends up obscuring Waits' great tunes."
And Spin lamented,
"As one scene in Lost in Translation confirmed, she's about as capable as a karaoke enthusiast
needs to be."
That said, more than a decade after that album's release, Johansson appears, as of May 2019,
to be attracting tens of thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify, which certainly could
be worse.
Break Up
Johansson actually recorded her second album, Break Up, a collaboration with American singer-songwriter
Pete Yorn, prior to recording Anywhere I Lay My Head.
According to Billboard, in a 2009 press release, Yorn confirmed the dizzying speed with which
the collaboration came together, saying,
"I was having a strange week of insomnia and when I finally passed out, it came to me in
a dream.
I woke up and the whole thing was in my head, fully formed.
Within ten minutes, I was texting Scarlett, 'We have to make a record!"
The album featured eight tracks written by Yorn and a cover of Big Star's "I Am the Cosmos."
Much like Johansson's debut album, Break Up also received mixed reviews.
BBC Music called it,
"Too slight to encourage repeat plays, but occasionally charming enough."
Pitchfork said,
"[The project] rarely has the tunes or emotional impact to make it one of those rare impossible
situations you'll actually want to remember."
On a sweeter note, the record was certified platinum in France.
Reviewing the vocals
While Johansson seemed to receive a plethora of criticism regarding her first two albums,
it was her voice that got the most flack.
Speaking of her vocal performance on 2008's Anywhere I Lay My Head, Pitchfork called her
vocals, quote, "limited and her pitch occasionally shaky."
Salon mused in 2008,
"The critical consensus on Johansson's voice is that it's flimsy and expressionless, and
that it's buried deep beneath the record's cottony, somewhat synth-heavy production."
It's impossible to deny that negative reviews have outweighed positive ones when it comes
to Johansson's vocals.
As Highsnobiety wrote in 2018,
"Regardless of how people feel about ScarJo, there's no denying that she [does] possess
many talents, singing just might not be one of them."
Ouch.
Girl group
Pitchfork reported in February 2015 that Johansson formed a girl group and called it the Singles.
She said in a press release,
"The idea was to write super-pop dance music written and performed by girls.
I love Grimes.
And I love the Bangles.
And I love the Go-Go's.
I wanted it to be like those bands: ultra pop but also a little ironic, a little in
on the joke."
However, the girl group was short-lived.
Johansson was reportedly served with papers by a band from Los Angeles with the same name
just five days after she announced her group's existence.
Pitchfork reported that the other Singles band issued a cease-and-desist to Johansson's
representatives, alleging trademark infringement.
The lead singer of the rival band had this to say in a press release:
"It's hard to believe that any musician would do something like that to another band.
The Singles has been my life for the past 16 years.
We have worked so incredibly hard to make it a success."
Despite The Times reporting in June 2018 that ScarJo's band had been renamed Sugar for Sugar,
it appears that Johansson's poppy girl group never took off.
Back with Pete
Johansson decided to get back together with Pete Yorn after recording 2009's Break Up
album with him.
The pair released an EP in 2018 titled Apart, which features five songs.
With so much time having passed since their previous collaboration, Johansson told Entertainment
Weekly,
"I really just love to sing with Pete.
I'm a huge fan of his music."
She also spoke fondly of Yorn to Forbes, noting,
"Having a partner you've known for almost 15 years, it's a rare thing."
"We hope that you guys enjoy the kind of messy, gritty, syrupy nostalgia that is Apart."
Clearly, there's still a lot of affection between this duo, and Johansson even teased
a third Yorn collaboration.
But will anyone be listening?
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